Amen
by Dibbzy
Summary: One shot. Far down the line, Danny Phantom has met with an opponent he couldn't beat. His youngest son stands at the funeral meant for the world to see. Inspired by at-a-glance's story "Prodigal Son." Redone


"Stop the clocks, cut the telephone, prevent the dog from barking with a juicy bone, silence the pianos muffle the drums, bring out the coffin, let the mourners come."

I looked up at my mom in front of the crowd, as I squeezed my sister's hand. I dropped my eyes so I was looking down at the coffin in front of us. I knew behind me crowds of people stood, sniffling, crying.

My dad was dead.

The great Danny Phantom was dead… And he'd gone down fighting. And the next person who say's "Its how he would have wanted to go" I'm going to thump.

He didn't want to go down fighting. I heard him tell mom once. He wanted to go out quietly, in his sleep, taken out by old age.

No. He went down fighting. It's how everyone else wanted him to go.

But he saved us. I guess that's something he wanted.

The ghost sense slipped out my mouth, and I looked out and over to the fluffy mass of ghostly hair off to one side that was Wulf, wrapped in a coat to make him that little less conspectus. The little ghost puppy Cujo by his feet, whimpering. They weren't the only ghosts here today. Frostbite was around somewhere, as were many others, friends and enemies around. I'm sure I even saw the box ghost around somewhere… Bet he was loving it. My dad goes down in a big black box…

I lowered my eyes back to the coffin as my mom finished the poem.

"Poor away the ocean's, sweep up the wood. For nothing now can come to any good." She looked out over the congregation. It stretched as far as the grave yard would let. "He was a hero." She said softly. "It's something we all knew." she paused. She looked down at the coffin in front of us, blinking back tears, trying to find her voice. "And I loved him. More than I could ever express in words. But not because he was a hero." She looked up, and out again. "He was a person just like anyone else. He had a family, he had hobbies, and likes, he had friends, and a job. And we are here today to be thankful for all of this, and not a singular part of it. Most of you will never have met him. You're here to see the great Danny Phantom off. And I appreciate that. But I am here to say good bye to my husband, Danny Fenton." She held her breath for a moment. I could see her trying to not cry in front of everyone. "My Danny…"

She paused once again, closing her eyes, trying to keep herself from crying. The pause was longer this time.

"He was a good man." She finally managed to say. "He always had been. It was what he tried to be. He always put everyone else first… Like the stupid hero he was… You know… he wanted to be an astronaut. He wanted it ever since he was a kid… And even for many years after the accident that gave him his powers, he held that hope. On more than one occasion in our teen years, his secret exploits took him in to space. They led us through asteroids, and satellites. Even on to the space shuttle, if anyone here can even remember it. He never grew out of it. After the disasteroid incident, he still got kicks about going in to space. And to this day I can't put my finger on when it stopped being a goal, and turned in to a dream. True, I know lots of people who dream to have what he had, and in a way, ghost powers is a pretty awesome way to make up for not being able to follow your dream, isn't it?" she smiled, and choked, her hand going over her mouth. The audience around me stayed silent. I watched my big brother come forward, putting an arm around our mother. He could only manage one. His other was in a sling. His own souvenir from the battle that took down my dad… I watched him mutter some words to her and she nodded, making her quick exit. My brother took the centre stage.

"My father was a great man." He started. "No. More than great. He was an epic man. That may sound very colloquial, but I mean it in the true sense of the word. He was more than special. He out shone everyone and he didn't even mean too. He made it clear to me from an early age, that everyone would expect me to be like him, but he didn't want that. He wanted me to be myself." He smiled. "And he had forbidden me from joining in his ghost fights till I'd finished college. His exact words. "Jack. I know you want to help, but you join in once, you'll never get away, so sit your arse back down, and do your homework."."

I couldn't help but smile. A few people around me laughed.

"He did it with all of us. I chose to follow him, not because it was my blood heritage, or my duties, though I suppose somewhere that may have played its part. But because I wanted to be out there helping people. Of course, it puts me on the front line. And I was there when it happened. But we all know how it happened."

Ghost fight. Powerful ghost. My brother goes down first, my dad goes down next, but not before taking that little slime ball with him. I looked at my brother's face. A brave face. The same brave face dad had worn when he was telling us it was going to be alright…

"And that's that." Jack looked out over the congregation here today. "You probably have a lot of questions over it, but I'm going to ask you to keep them to yourselves today. We're here for his sake. To remember, and honour the savour of the Earth. He led a good life, and he's done more for us than we can count, or ever repay. It's the end of an era. But in every end there is a new beginning. Where ever my dad is now, he's probably looking down on us and do you know what he's thinking? He'll be thinking 'I'm sorry. I didn't mean to make anyone cry"."

I smiled. It's true. It would be just like him, worrying about us, when he's the dead one here. I looked down at the coffin. Sleek, and black. My smile fell away, the logo shining bright white against it… his symbol…

"So here lays Danny Fenton." Jack said proudly. "Danny Phantom. Savour of the Earth, more times than we can count. A dear friend to those who knew him, a hero to those who didn't. A wonderful son to his parents, a loving father to his children, and a dear husband to his wife. May we never forget who he is, or what he means to us. He created the world we live in to day, and while he didn't do it alone, none of us would even be here without him." He bowed his head, looking down to the coffin. "Thank you, dad." He said quietly, and walked away.

Applause rose around us, echoing, and I looked down to the coffin once again. "Lilly…" I said quietly, and she looked down to me.

"Yes?" she asked quietly, squeezing my hand.

"I want to go home…" I said quietly, finally feeling the tears coming to my eyes. I didn't want to be here. She pulled me in to a hug, and I lent in to her.

"I know." She said quietly. "But we've got to finish this."

"Why can't dad be here?" I whimpered. I knew the answer of course. If he was alive, we wouldn't even be here. We wouldn't be doing this.

The applause died down as the priest stepped forward, and he began the service. But I wasn't listening any more. I felt someone come up behind me, and my mom pulled me and Lilly in to a hug. Beyond them, I felt Jack come to stand beside us. We separated, and turned back to the service, the words passing over us, carrying out to everyone else present. I'd had to share my dad with the world for as long as I could remember… even now, this wasn't for us. It was for everyone else as much as it was for us. Lilly took one hand, Jack took the other, and mom on Lilly's other side. And there we stood. The ones left behind.

The service came to a close, and the coffin was lowered down in to the ground. The stone slab was closed over it. The area around it would be built up with a monument.

"In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen." The priest closed.

The voice was echoed around. "Amen."

"Amen…" I muttered quietly, tears still streaking down my face, looking down at the grave marker below.

_Here lays Daniel [Danny] Fenton_

"_Danny Phantom"_

_Beloved Son, Father, Husband, and Hero_

_May you find Peace wherever you are now,_

_As you have left peace for those you saved._

_Thank you for everything._

_You watch where you're going, and we'll watch where you've been._

---

Thank you very much to the critique I got on this first time round. I'm still not completely satisfied with this, so any more critique would be much appreciated. But to flamers, do be warned I have a ready stocked fire extinguisher at the ready. If you don't have anything constructive to say, take your attitude elsewhere.


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